1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for managing data in a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer instructions for managing email messages.
2. Description of Related Art
The Internet, also referred to as an “internetwork”, is a set of computer networks, possibly dissimilar, joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from a protocol of the sending network to a protocol used by the receiving network. When capitalized, the term “Internet” refers to the collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols.
The Internet has become a cultural fixture as a source of both information and entertainment. Many businesses are creating Internet sites as an integral part of their marketing efforts, informing consumers of the products or services offered by the business or providing other information seeking to engender brand loyalty. Many federal, state, and local government agencies are also employing Internet sites for informational purposes, particularly agencies which must interact with virtually all segments of society such as the Internal Revenue Service and secretaries of state. Providing informational guides and/or searchable databases of online public records may reduce operating costs. Further, the Internet is becoming increasingly popular as a medium for commercial transactions.
Currently, the most commonly employed method of transferring data over the Internet is to employ the World Wide Web environment, also called simply “the Web”. Other Internet resources exist for transferring information, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Gopher, but have not achieved the popularity of the Web. In the Web environment, servers and clients effect data transaction using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a known protocol for handling the transfer of various data files (e.g., text, still graphic images, audio, motion video, etc.). The information in various data files is formatted for presentation to a user by a standard page description language, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). In addition to basic presentation formatting, HTML allows developers to specify “links” to other Web resources identified by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). A URL is a special syntax identifier defining a communications path to specific information. Each logical block of information accessible to a client, called a “page” or a “Web page”, is identified by a URL. The URL provides a universal, consistent method for finding and accessing this information, not necessarily for the user, but mostly for the user's Web “browser”. A browser is a program capable of submitting a request for information identified by an identifier, such as, for example, a URL. A user may enter a domain name through a graphical user interface (GUI) for the browser to access a source of content. The domain name is automatically converted to the Internet Protocol (IP) address by a domain name system (DNS), which is a service that translates the symbolic name entered by the user into an IP address by looking up the domain name in a database.
The Internet also is widely used to transfer applications to users using browsers. With respect to commerce on the Web, individual consumers and business use the Web to purchase various goods and services. In offering goods and services, some companies offer goods and services solely on the Web while others use the Web to extend their reach.
A widespread use of the Web is in the area of communications. Electronic messages, also referred to as “email” messages, are a widespread form of communication that has quickly overtaken the “written” letter. As with physical mail, users often receive junk mail or “spam”, which has been sent unsolicited. With spam, a user has a choice of different mechanisms to deal with the unsolicited email. A user may manually delete the unwanted messages.
Alternatively, the user may use a filter to block email messages from unwanted sources. These filters require the user to add email addresses to a list that is used to filter out unwanted messages. The drawback of this type system is that a user is required to maintain the list. System level filtering is available from Internet service providers (ISPs). These providers generate black lists of know sources of spam, and block the delivery of email messages from those sources. One problem with system level filtering is that it is sometimes hard to distinguish between legitimate commercial email messages and spam. These systems block all email messages, including legitimate ones in additions to the spam.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method, apparatus, and computer instructions for managing unsolicited email messages.